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July 2007 - Strategy Magazine
Upfront

Le beau Home Depot

by Annette Bourdeau
page 11

Home Depot is ready to take a chunk out of the competition in Quebec, with new culturally specific positioning that integrates the local phrase C'est Beau into its tagline there. This is the first time the Atlanta-based company has developed region-specific positioning.

"We thought there was opportunity in Quebec to grow our market - we have some very strong competitors," says Peg Hunter, senior director, marketing at Toronto-based Home Depot Canada, adding they've used Cossette Montreal since last summer on the new approach. "We spent a lot of effort trying to understand our consumers.

"The Quebec culture has values that relate to home improvement. Quebecers focus on what is fun and pleasing...so we wound up focusing on the end result [of renovations]."

Campaign executions, including TV, OOH and POP, feature proud families enjoying their beautiful, newly renovated homes.

Hunter says the front-line employees were an integral part of the repositioning process. "We spent a lot of time educating and getting feedback," she says. District managers were included in the brainstorming, and many of their ideas will be implemented. For example, cashiers will end transactions by saying "C'est beau."

Hunter says this new positioning isn't just a test. "We don't see it as a one-off. We see it as a commitment."

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